DPS energy hearings start with a BANG!

Last night’s energy forum in St. Johnsbury was a BLAST! Faced with the tough choice of how to meet our future energy needs, voters came through with the answer :

We can choose to continue relying on dirty and expensive sources like Yankee and fossil fuels with disastrous consequences for our climate, economy and environment. Or choose a brighter energy future that creates thousands of jobs, cuts global warming pollution, and leaves our children a legacy of prosperity.

I was pleasantly surprised, with a few caveats, that the forum presented the choice before Vermonters in reasonable terms. Presented with that evidence, an overwhelming number of the Northeast Kingdom voters who showed up wanted renewable energy and energy efficiency to meet our future electricity needs. They also strongly opposed continued reliance on nukes, fossil fuels, and imported power.

Some examples:

• 84% of voters wanted Vermont to get more power from renewable sources;
• When asked if government should require utilities to to provide a minimum percentage of power from renewables: 53% strongly agreed, and only 15% strongly disagreed;
• 75% support increased funding for Efficiency Vermont;
• and, when asked to rate their level of concern about various environmental impacts, voters were nearly twice as concerned about nuclear waste and global warming as they were about the visual impacts of wind turbines.

(more results in the full report)

I’m excited about the upcoming forums in Burlington, Montpelier, Springfield and Rutland and encourage everyone to join us at one for a powerful evening where voters have a real chance to shape our energy future….don’t forget to register!

Here’s the full (long) report.